“The Man with the Scar” by 

William Somerset Maugham

Exposition:
The story begins in a bar where two men were talking about the main
character of the text that the General was telling. He was selling lottery tickets in
a bar, where one of the men noticed him because of a large scar on his face.
Rising action:
When the man saw the scar on the General's face, he was curious where he
got it from, so he asked his acquaintance with whom he was in the bar if he
knew where that scar came from. His acquaintance told him that he was a
general of the rebel troops, and after an act of his he was to be shot at dawn with
4 other men.
Climax:
The climax of the text is when the 5 were supposed to be shot at dawn, but the
general wanted to attend the execution and he asked them if they had any wish,
and our protagonist said he wanted to see his wife waiting for the prison gate.
The general allowed her to enter and when he entered he hugged her and then
killed her.
Falling action:
After the protagonist killed his wife, all the soldiers were puzzled by his deed,
but the General appreciated this girl who in his opinion was noble, so he did not
execute her but let her go from prison.
Resolution:
But the answer to the question of where the scar came from has nothing to do
with the history of the execution. The answer is trivial, it was cut when he
opened a bottle.
Theme and Idea:
The themes present in the text are: Sacrifice for love, life, war, etc.
The idea of the text is to love the sick woman because she killed her wife to
be together after the execution, but this sacrifice led to her suffering until the
end of her life because she was no longer executed, a real paradox.